


Kalos Kagathos

by JustLetMeBi



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Constructive Criticism Welcome, Daminette, F/M, Good Chloé Bourgeois, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I mean Lila is there so you know, I will never tell, Is that a pun for bat?, MariBat, Maridami, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Protective Squad, Mentions of Blood, Mostly Jason, No Beta, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, Wayne Gala (DCU), mentions of bullying, possibility of salt in future, protective batfam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23986003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustLetMeBi/pseuds/JustLetMeBi
Summary: "It's called Kalos kagathos, the harmony of body and mind as we mentioned last year in literature. The challenges certainly won't be easy, but the three winners of this international competition will get a two-week trip to Gotham for their whole class. Also them, and one person of their choosing, can go to the Wayne Gala." Class started whispering as Miss Bustier finished her speech."Lila, you will surely win," Rose chirped at the smiling girl.That's it, Marinette though to herself, she would win this competition.
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 168
Kudos: 984





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Marinette is 17 in this book, two years after she became a guardian.

“The competition’s name is K _alos kagathos_ , which means person harmonious in mind and body, as we mentioned in ancient Greek literature last year,” Miss Bustier gave them a look as if daring them to deny it. Max nodded, but no one else seemed to know what she was talking about. She sighed. “It was an ideal, something people aspired to be. A person that is not only clever but also strong and educated. The competition would consist of challenges happening during next month.”

“Lila, you'll definitely win this, you are so intelligent, even Batman, the greatest detective himself, wanted your advice on that case he was working on last summer. And didn’t you win that gymnastic competition last year? You got this!” Rose squealed, not noticing the amused looks from the back of the classroom.

Two years ago, when Lila came to the class, everyone was ready to believe everything the girl said. However, after she almost got Marinette expelled with her so-called “medical condition”, some of her classmates started coming around slowly. Max and Alix were the first ones to apologize. After the 'napkin incident', Alix asked Markov to find the proof for Lila's stories and was surprised, when there weren't any.

The second was, surprisingly Chloe, who didn’t apologize right away. Nevertheless, she scoffed at everything Lila said and had biting remarks at every opportunity. After particularly bad akuma targeting her, she apologized to everyone she has ever bullied (and was it a long list), starting with Sabrina and Marinette. It was also the year she got back her miraculous under a different name and with a redesigned costume. That's how Abeille became the fifth permanent hero in Paris, after Ryuko and Viperion. Marinette couldn’t ask for more loyal teammates. Nor funnier person to sit next to (seriously, Chloe’s and Marinette’s sarcasm was something only they could understand).

Next one and so far the last one from their class to not believe Lila was Nathaniel, after she almost caused him and Marc to break up. After, he apologized to Marinette and joined their little resistance in the back of the class. They spent the next half year trying to expose her lies to the rest of the class but stopped after they've seen that it had no effect. And so their class was divided into two parts, with Adrien and Juleka talking to both sides. 

“Yes, you see, I'll be amazing in all of the challenges on intelligence. unfortunately I sprained my ankle while helping Ladybug in the last akuma attack so I can’t win all of the ones focusing on the physique. It's really sad,” Lila looked down with glistening eyes. The back of the class smirked when Alix shouted “Miraculous cure!”, which Lila either didn't hear or chose to ignore.

“Three winners of the competition are also invited to the Wayne Gala and can take one guest with them,” Miss Bustier continued. Marinette imagined how amazing it would be to be able to go on the Gala, unconsciously already designing small sketches of dresses in her notebook. Now she was motivated to win. She already designed few pieces for Jagged and Clara Nightingale but appearing in MDC original on the most famous Gala in the world would be amazing publicity for her website.

A few years ago she would be reluctant to leave Paris for such a long period, but having a permanent miraculous team consisting of Chat Noir, Abeille, Ryuko, and Viperion, she knew they would call her in case of akuma attack. Moreover, she would use the Horse miraculous to get to the attack on time.

Since the first time she had been stuck in her civilian form against an akuma, she'd been training different fighting techniques and gymnastics. Even though her miraculous influenced her powers and abilities outside the costume, it didn't help against an akuma with superpowers. They were only getting stronger and since she could no longer trust Rena Rouge or Carapace, she wanted to give her best to Paris.

She will win this competition, she thought as she wrote her name and circled 'agree' on the paper that Miss Bustier gave everyone in the class. 

///

Two hours later Miss Bustier handed an envelope to everyone who wanted to participate. “So, if you want to go to Gotham City, you better try your best!” she winked.

Gotham City, the criminal capital of the world. Well, there goes her peaceful holiday. Of course Gotham was the destination for the winners, since that’s where the Gala is. But after hearing the words 'Wayne Gala' and 'going there', her mind was already on the dresses. So blame her for not connecting the dots. Well, she supposed it couldn’t be worse than being in the center of an akuma attack every two days.

The envelope contained only one paper. The paper had seemingly random words written on it. The first line was: speak, money, street, piece, mind, and dating. The next line was: right, cat, carbon, water, youth, soda, fence, card, master, foot, collection, and out. Nothing else could be found on the paper, not with UV light, not any other technique she could try after school. Or at least the ones she could get her hands on without breaking the law. It was just a normal paper.

So Marinette focused on the words. She knew that since the riddle was in English, most of her classmates would be already hugely disadvantaged.

She was sitting in the bakery, sketching a dress, while having the paper still in front of her. Maybe her brain will unconsciously solve the riddle without her trying. So far, it wasn’t working.

“Marinette, how was your day in school?” her mom smiled at her from behind the counter.

“Some classes from school can compete in a competition with the winner going to Wayne Gala. I wanted to try it! This is the first clue,” she handed her mom the paper. Sabine brushed her hands from flour and looked at it.

“Oh, this reminds me of my childhood. We tried to create as many of these as we could. My friends and I had a competition for who could create the more seemingly unconnected words that are connected by one. These seem to be fairly easy though, I can see the three words that could mean 'copy',” she pointed at the second line. “Copyright, copycat, and carbon copy. But it doesn’t fit with the rest of the line..”

Marinette looked at her mom, down at the paper, then back at her. She snatched the paper from her hands, kissed her mom on the cheek, and with thanks ran to her room.

“Tikki, of course! Each trinity of words means one word. Together they form the clue!” she grabbed a pencil and started brainstorming her ideas. In half an hour, she figured out the whole thing.

The words scribbled on the paper formed an ‘easy game’ in the first line. Marinette scoffed. Yeah sure, someone was trying to be funny here. The second line created the sentence “copy fountain post stamp.”

One coffee and few google searches later, Marinette was almost certain she found the right stamp. It was a stamp from 1978 portraying the _Fontain des innocents_ in Paris. Next to the fountain was a girl looking at one of the fountain walls, one of her hands covered behind the fountain.

“Did each country had its special stamp or was she just lucky to be living in France?” she wondered out loud to which Tikki only shrugged.

The fountain was the oldest in France and should have been destroyed at one point in history, but luckily, a writer saved it by writing a letter to the _Journal de Paris._ It was moved to another place, the fourth wall built so that it could be free-standing. 

_Things Wikipedia can teach you,_ Marinette smiled to herself and decided to go there right away.

“Wow Marinette, you are quick!” Tikki affectionately nuzzled her cheek and smiled at her chosen. “But are you sure that this competition can’t reveal your secret identity?”

Marinette stopped for a second. “Don’t worry Tikki, I thought this through. We are under the attack of Hawkmoth, no one would wonder why I trained my physique and I’m sure I’m not the only one who figured the riddle. Moreover, this is just the first clue and the competition would take much longer than that. Who knows if I’ll actually win. More than anything, it’s just wishful thinking.”

“Okay Mari, but I know you will win this! Even though you are a superhero, you tend to underestimate yourself,” Tikki cooed at Marinette, who brightened at the compliment.

“Well, if we’re fast, we can come back before dinner, let’s go!”

///

The fountain was at least taller than she expected from the pictures, stone steps leading to the middle. Marinette looked around but didn’t see anyone she knew. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and sat on the top step. There weren’t that many people, just a girl who looked a few years older than Marinette, eating ice-cream and doing something on her phone, and some kids playing with a ball.

Marinette opened the picture of the stamp she found on the internet on her phone. _Copy the fountain post stamp._ She frowned at the girl. She zoomed on her hand. It looked as if her hand didn’t go behind the fountain but in it. Of course, the fourth wall was built after!

Marinette moved around the fountain, carefully looking at all of the conjunctions. She still tried to look casual, to keep the attention from her. Even though she didn’t see any of the contestants, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t see her.

  
She noticed a crack on one side. It was approximately at the same height as the girl’s hand in the picture. Bingo! She let her fingers brushed the cold stone. She couldn’t see anything inside. Neither could she feel anything besides small bumps under her fingertips.

 _Could it be…? Yes, braille!_ She victoriously smiled to herself. She looked up braille translation on her phone and tried to decipher which letters were written there. But even though she tried multiple times and different angles, she couldn’t decipher exactly what letters there were. She took out her hand and brushed the dirt away. Pads of her fingertips of her right hand had hard skin and were calloused from the sewing and other things she'd been doing.

She put her left hand inside. Now she could decipher the position of the bumps. She quickly scribbled it all down in her notebook and looked at the fountain’s statues as if she was admiring them this whole time. As she looked around without moving her head, she noticed from the corner of her eye the ice-cream girl was looking at her. Marinette raised her hand, the girl lowering her gaze instantly. She wouldn’t even notice she was looking at her if Mari hadn’t looked earlier.

In her mind, she was berating herself for giving a clue to what looked like another contestant. Or not, she was probably older than high-school. And even if, she was already on the place which meant that she figured out the first clue herself. Or she was just looking at Marinette because she shoved her hand in the fountain wall, frowned, took it out, shoved her other hand to the same place, smiled and scribbled something in her notebook. Heck, Marinette would be staring too.

The girl had short black hair and beautiful chocolate skin. Besides that one look, she didn’t seem to care about Marinette at all.

As she was leaving the place, she noticed the girl now openly staring at her. Already calmed, she grinned and waved her hand. Confusion flickered on her face, before being replaced by a tentative smile. She slowly waved back.

Okay, Marinette maybe saved her reputation as not a _total_ freak. Or worsened it. Who knows, she would probably never see her again, Paris was a huge city after all.

///

Forty-five minutes. That’s the amount of time Marinette needed to figure out the letters she wrote down weren’t in fact letters, but numbers. Because in braille, signs for the first letters of the alphabet are the same as signs for numbers. Then it was clear she had a set of coordinates.

Coordinates, that led her to a field just a bit outside the Paris. She would visit that place tonight after patrol. It wasn’t possible to just ask her parents for a trip during a school night.

Chat was right on time today. He had been late a few times, but she didn’t hold it against him. She knew he didn’t have it easy in his civilian life. One of his parents or guardians, Marinette didn’t know, made him follow a strict schedule with almost every minute of every day filled with different activities.

They had a bit rocky relationship at first, his flirting getting in the middle of the battle. After she became a guardian, she felt much more responsibility and snapped at him more. She apologized afterwards but also explained to him that they couldn’t continue like this. They had a long talk resulting in Chat apologizing. From then on, she couldn’t ask for a better partner or friend. 

The patrol passed with no trouble and soon she found herself swinging through the city on her yoyo in a completely different direction than normal. A few hundred meters from the place, she transformed herself back and gave Tikki a cookie.

“Marinette, was it safe for you to detransform? It is middle of the night and Paris isn’t Gotham but it still can be dangerous,” her kwami gave her a concerned look while munching on her cookie.

“I’m outside the city now, there are no people here.” Marinette walked to a tree that was in the middle of the field. That was the place coordinates were pointing her towards. The tree was a sturdy old oak. She tapped on the bark, but it didn’t sound hollow anywhere.

“Now is probably time to show off your physical skills,” Tikki chirped, looking at the leaves.

Marinette sighed and started climbing. She hooked her hands on the bump on the bark. The lowest branch was still well out of the reach of the short girl.

“This would be the ideal time to transform to Ladybug,” she said through clenched teeth. Tikki laughed at her from behind her.

“Didn’t you want to win this competition as Marinette?”

She sighed again. “Yeah, I was just joking.”

She reached for the first branch and with the help of her hands pushed herself up. She sat there for a second, panting. “That’s harder than I thought Tikki.”

“Tikki?” Marinette looked around. Her eyes landed on her purse, where Tikki was holding her tiny hand in front of her mouth.

Marinette listened.

Now in the complete silence of the night, she heard steps coming closer to the tree. She started climbing once more, as quietly as she could, giving herself lots of breaks so her labored breathing wouldn’t give out her location.

 _Shit, shit, shit._ Are they a threat? Is it another person just wanting to win the competition? Marinette risked a glance at the lower branch. She could see a top of a head with a nest of short hair, and a dark hand. Could it be-?

The person raised their head. Their eyes locked. There was no mistaking now, it was the girl from the park. She quickly pushed herself on the branch about a meter under Marinette and smiled at her.

“Fancy seeing you here. You also follow the clues of the competition?” she grinned at a younger girl above her.

“No, I had an urge to go three climbing in the middle of the night. Yeah, it seems like fun and I would love to win it for the ticket to the Gala. But you’re the only person I’ve met on this treasure hunt so far so you’re probably my biggest competition,” Marinette mirrored her grin.

The girls smiled sheepishly at that. “Yeah, well, I’m actually not a contestant, just wanted to try this. I’m too old for this, already in uni.”

“Oh,” Marinette didn't know what to answer. After a few seconds of silence she smiled.

“Well, anyway, you’re good,” she outstretched her hand. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

The girl seated herself more securely and stretched to grab Marinette’s hand.

“Julia. Julia Pennyworth, nice to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> Hope you liked this, it's a first chapter of a multichapter fic, now that I have time I'll be uploading every few days, at least two times a week. 
> 
> The stamp mentioned in the story really exists, but without the girl. You can check it out here: https://shutr.bz/2YwePjI
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, kudos and comments appreciated (even better if you have any sort of feedback!)


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette smiled at Julia. She scratched the back of her neck and started looking around.

“Well, we might try to find the next clue. It has to be here somewhere,” she said, feeling around the tree trunk. Around meter and a half above her, there was a hollow. She slowly moved her legs beneath her into a crouching position. Then, inch by inch, stood on her branch, supporting herself with her hands.

“Carefully,” she heard Julia murmur.

She slowly reached inside and felt around. Her fingers bumped into something steely that seemed like, for the lack of a better term, lever. She pushed it.

From somewhere above them, one paper started falling towards the ground. Julie snatched it and grinned at Marinette, waving it. Marinette pushed the lever again, back to its original position. Nothing happened. She pushed it again. Another paper fell to the ground. She pushed the lever back again.

“Got it!” she shouted when she saw the paper was falling closer to her now. Julia nodded.

Marinette hooked her right hand on one of the branches and reached out for the paper. Her fingertips brushed it just by millimeters. She swiftly adjusted her grip on the branch and made a rapid move for the paper. She felt its smooth texture. Her foot slipped.

She moved at the speed she didn’t know she possessed outside of the suit and immediately let go of a branch she was holding. Hooking her leg that didn't slip around it, she twisted her body, bracing herself for an impact.

She hit the wood with a ‘thump’ that was much louder than she expected in a quiet of the night. Her breathing was labored, adrenaline pumping in her veins. Underneath her was at least 10 meters of space. She didn’t realize she had climbed that high.

Looking down, she found Julia looking at her with new interest. She slowly started climbing down, willing her hands to ease from the grip. Julia followed her shortly after.

“So, do you want to connect forces on this one, non-contestant?” Marinette grinned at her as her legs landed on the ground.

“Well, that wouldn’t be really fair to other contestants now, would it?” she grinned back.

“Understood. So see you around, maybe?”

“Maybe,” Julia echoed as she waved and headed in the opposite direction from the city.

Marinette shrugged and started walking.

“What did you find?” Tikki excitedly flew out of the purse.

“Oh, I didn’t even look at it,” she turned the light on her phone on. It was an envelope containing a business card, another set of words, and a small paper with number 9 on it. She showed it all to Tikki.

///

Marinette would kill for a good night’s sleep. Or a good coffee. Ideally both. She slammed her head on her desk, groaning.

“Oh yeah, of course, I’ve solved it I’m already almost at the end,” she heard a smug voice followed by ‘aah’s and ‘wow’s of her classmates.

“You don’t believe her, do you?” Max chuckled, not even turning to her, scribbling something.

“No, it’s just pissing me off that most of the class can’t see through her lies. I thought they were intelligent” she mumbled without raising her head.

“Actually, this competition isn’t organized by the Gotham academy but by Wayne’s, who are good friends of mine,” Lila continued.

“Girl, that’s so cool!” Alya exclaimed and Marinette focused on sleeping. Sleep is good. Sleep is fine. Sleep is what she needed right now.

“Their youngest son, my Dami, is sending me letters since we were kids. And Bruce is also a great friend of my family. I wouldn’t be telling you this, their family is rather secretive, but I trust you guys all so much!” Marinette could _feel_ Lila’s radiant fake smile through her closed eyes.

She raised her head when she heard Max pick up his laptop and connect Markov. After a minute of clicking with Markov talking to him silently, he let out a quiet ‘yes!’.

She looked over his shoulder to see that he has hacked into the city’s surveillance system. He zoomed onto a very familiar fountain. Right now, during school there was no one around, save for one tourist taking pictures.

“You don’t mind if others are gonna see it?” she raised her eyebrows though he still wasn’t looking at her.

“Well, you wouldn’t know what this is if you haven’t already solved it, right?” Markov turned to Marinette, positively beaming. She swore he was the happiest robot that ever existed. In the meanwhile, Max rewound the recording to yesterday. The camera focused on her and he turned, eyebrows raised.

“You finished it quickly,” he said.

“Oh, _ma maman_ , she knew the game. After I knew the principle, it was easy to solve the words,” she waved her hands.

“No, even with Markov, I got stuck on some of them for an hour or more. I figured out the principle yesterday as you did.”

“Well, I must have been lucky then!” she twisted one of her twin tails and forced a laugh. He studied her for a second, then beamed at her. She relaxed and smiled back.

“Hey, isn’t that cheating?” she laughed when she noticed him zoom on her paper, where she wrote the letters yesterday. Luckily, with the quality of the camera, it wasn’t readable. Max closed the laptop and murmured something she didn’t catch.

///

By the end of the school day, she had the second set of words decoded. They lead her to a different place than the business card. It seemed like she’d have to follow two trails. The card was a creamy yellow color with a small picture of a cat next to a name and an address of a coffee shop she didn’t recognize.

The shop had a pleasant atmosphere, the smell of coffee hanging in the air, shelves of books lining a wall on the right. She could at least grab a coffee here. She walked to the counter.

“One espresso with-” she stopped herself as she noticed the stack of business cards. They were identical to the one she had in her pocket, save for the cat doodle. “Sorry, can I also order anything that has to do with… ehm… cats?”

She prayed she didn’t sound like a total idiot but the person behind the counter didn’t look surprised.  
  
“Oh yes, we have macarons shaped as cats, each one comes with a small history of the shop as it is the favorite pastry of the shop owner,” the girl beamed at her. Marinette took one nicely packed macaron gratefully, and paid while she waited for the coffee.

_I’m so glad Chat doesn’t see me now. I would never hear the end of this_ she thought as she started reading the paper that came with the macaron.

///

The game was taking more of Marinette’s time than she expected. After five days of running after clues, she was glad this month was slow on commissions. The only two people she had to make something for were Jagged, who along with Penny helped her start her website and Tim Drake who, if Marinette remembered correctly, already ordered three things before. She might send him something small as a thank you.

Even Hawkmoth seemed to akumatize only Mr. Rat (for 12th time, if you count also his time as Mr. Pidgeon it would rise to 35th, Chat kept count) and one new akuma, so it was an easy week even on this front. The record is 15 akumas in one week.

Marinette would like to call herself a kind and not (very) violent person. But after the 14th akuma, she was ready to skin Hawkmoth alive, disarticulate all his limbs, and feed the rest of him to Plagg.

No, Plagg didn’t deserve that.

What was Marinette trying to say was that she was lucky. She was also quite enjoying this competition. So far she managed to solve everything within less than than a day of getting the question. Mostly, she needed to use her head, there weren't many things focusing on her physique. Yes, she had to climb some more, she visited one cave and she dived in a lake. But nothing _that_ challenging. Maybe it was more of a speed game than anything else.

She didn’t meet Julia again.

With some of the clues came also a number on a separate paper. They hadn’t fit into anything yet, but it might be a telephone number or another set of coordinates. She had nine of them so if they meant a telephone number, she might need just the last digit. If that was the case it would certainly make things easier. Even though Miss Bustier said that the competition should take a month. Maybe that was just a rough estimate.

She looked at her current clues.

_“When is the time of a clock like the whistle of a train?”_ and a picture of a compass with an arrow pointing to North with the number 4 beside it. The number was written in a different font than the other one she got. Moreover it was on the same paper as the picture.

“M’Lady, what paper are you holding there?” Chat looked over her shoulder. Even though she tried to have lots of mixed patrols with other permanent heroes, as a sort of teambuilding, she enjoyed the ones with Chat the most. Their easy banter could always get her mind off things especially after a particularly hard akuma attack.

“When is the time of a clock like the whistle of a train?” he thought for a second. After a second he started laughing, almost rolling on the roof.

She looked at him as if he spontaneously grew a second head.

“Bugaboo! Finally!” he exclaimed while comically holding his hands on the sides of his face.

“What Kitty, you don’t make sense. Didn’t they teach you to use whole sentences?” she laughed at his antics.

“You wound me, if I attempted to be eloquent, I wouldn’t fail,” he pouted.

“You’re failing now.”

He decided to ignore her, instead chose to jump up and down on a roof like a puppy on an energy drink. Or a kitty. “…but when Miss No-Puns-Ever is holding a pun in her hands, my ability to speak coherent phrases is leaving me.”

“I still don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Two to two!” he laughed again. “That’s the time, Bug, that’s the true humor for you right there.”

“Can it even be considered a pun?”

“Of course it can, and I will remember it and use it in the next possible oppurtu…” but Marinette stopped listening. Pieces started to fall into their place. She knew what she needed to do.

///

_Train Station du Nord_. North. Also the main train station in Paris. Check. A ticket that took her to the fourth station on the train leaving each day at 1h58. Aka two to two. Correct.

She was lucky to have the solution on a Friday night. The teachers probably wouldn't excuse her absence from school because of solving something, that could be essentially considered as a child's game. Now she didn’t have to wait and could go there right away.

The fourth stop wasn’t anything special, a small town of 7 thousand people, a few kilometers from Paris. She didn’t know what she would do once she’d get there, as she had no more clues she could use. She picked her sketchbook and started drawing. She counted the stops in her head.

_First_. They were still in Paris, she started scribbling down some ideas that she got from this part of the city. She should travel more, but she sees a lot of different sides of Paris during akuma attacks. Maybe she could visit her grandma.

_Second_. She looked down. She absentmindedly sketched a tie in the color of Gotham’s vigilant Red Robin. Red with a dark outline. She snorted and added Red Robin’s logo in a golden string on the bottom.

_Third_. Maybe she could send this to that Tim Drake, her favorite customer as she started to call him like that in her head. She snorted again. His shipping address was in Gotham, maybe he would like it.

Four. She put the sketchbook back to her backpack. She stood, ready to get out. This was her stop after all.

She heard screeching of breaks. Strange… they didn’t seem as loud during the other stops. Two people who stood next to her didn’t look concerned so she just brushed off the unsettling feeling in her gut.

Enormous impact threw the train on the side. Sound of shattering glass could be heard. People were screaming. The train slid for a few seconds then came to a halt. Smoke curled from the floor that wasn’t underneath their feet anymore. People scrambled in a hurry to leave the train as soon as possible.

The panic started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First part of this chapter was written at 6:30 AM, second while listening to an hour verion of Buil God then we’ll talk by Panic! at the Disco. Am I okay? that’s a genuine question 
> 
> what I'm trying to say is that I hope you liked it. Every comment gives me a year of life back from all the years I've lost stressing and crying for fictional characters. Every kudos gives me an hour of sleep that I desperately need because I read number of fanfictions that is probably unhealthy. 
> 
> Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette raised a hand to her head. She winced when she noticed scratches covering a side of the arm. The Miraculous cure would take ca- No, it wouldn’t, not now. She shakily stood up and looked around her. She saw a few people scrambling to get out of the train as quickly as possible by the windows above them. She ran to the nearest person, stuck under one of the seats. There was no place for her to transform, so she would have to help as much as she can in her civilian form.

Thick smoke was making her eyes water and burn. She wrapped her thin cardigan tightly around her mouth a few times and made a knot in the back. She winced as she felt a heat on her skin, hitting her in waves.

She tried to not think about seeing the blood gushing out of someone’s leg, not half a meter from her. Instead she put her left hand on a handle on a side of the seat that was blocking them, right hand underneath it, and tried to lift it. The seat barely moved. She reached into a suitcase that was lying on the ground, half-open, clothes scattered on the ground. She took out the sturdiest fabric she could find and wrapped it a few times around the seat handle, then moved back and pulled, using it as a lever.

The seat moved only a few centimeters, but it was enough for the person to crawl out. She couldn’t see more than a few meters in front of her. She wrapped her arm around their shoulders for support. She picked up a pair of jeans and wrapped her other hand in them. She used it to clean out the glass shards from the window frame.

They slowly climbed out. Police and medics were already there. She registered someone separating her and the second person, ushering her somewhere.

“I have to… people- inside…” Marinette blabbered while medic gently laid her down. She started clearing her wounds.

“No, people are already taking care of it, don’t worry honey,” the medic said in a soothing voice and shook her head. “You helped save someone, now you need to let me look at your wounds. You did more than enough Do you have any allergies on medication?”

It was Marinette’s turn to shake her head. She wanted to protest, she wanted to help more, but firemen were entering the train with pliers and some other equipment she didn't know and she knew there’s nothing else she could do right now.

“You were quite lucky,” the medic said, dabbing some brown substance on her arm. Marinette looked at her.

“You know, you have just small scratches on both of your hands and one cut on next to your eyebrow, that’s it. It’s nothing serious, head injuries always bleed a lot but it’s just the skin that’s damaged the most,” she put some disinfection on the side of Marinette’s face. She winced from the burn. “I don’t even need to sew the wound, just give me a minute and you’re good to go. You still have to go to talk to the Police after.”

Marinette just nodded and looked at her surroundings. She shuddered when her eyes landed on the train. Some of the train cars were still on the rails, confused people tumbling out from them. Only hers, and one two others were flipped.

“Do you know what the cause of this was?” Marinette asked her.

“Not yet, but it wasn’t a collision with anything else so it was probably some mechanical failure of tracks or something similar. That's the case usually.”

“Does it happen often?” Marinette widened her eyes at the casual way the medic talked about it.

“No, of course not! But it happens sometimes, mostly to freight trains so don’t worry,” she smiled at her. “Aand it’s done, you can go!”

“Thank you,” Marinette looked around to go talk to the Police when her eyes landed on the train station that they never reached. Few meters in front of her there stood a sign. _Bienvenue à Champsenne._ Underneath there was the picture of a compass. She tilted her head and pressed lips together. It was an identical copy of the one currently sitting in her pocket.

Marinette looked around. She started whistling and immediately stopped when it attracted a few looks. _Wow Marinette, way to be subtle. You spent more than three years of your life with a secret identity, how did you manage?_ She scolded herself.

No one tried to stop her so she just walked away. She entered the train station. It was an old stone building, with traces of light coming in through the small windows. She made her way to a woman selling the tickets.

“Excuse me, madam, may I ask why there is a compass on the town board?” she asked with a sweet smile. Tikki always made fun of her that if she became a villain, she would be perfectly safe, because even if she announced it to the public, no one would believe her. _But her class believed that she would bully Lila._ She faltered for a second but then shook her head.

  
“Yes of course, it’s a quite interesting story if you ask me,” she returned her smile. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Yes, I would love to!” Marinette beamed. The lady fixed glasses sitting low on her nose and leaned closer.

“We don’t know how much of it’s true, but the founder of this town, a very successful merchant, wanted to make a wedding gift to his only daughter. He asked many skillful craftsmen to create a perfect compass for her. It is said that he paid a pouch full of gold for it. Her fiancé was a sailor and she was supposed to leave with him for many years on the sea. Unfortunately, he got really sick and died before they could have a wedding or leave. She stayed in the town and helped poor people. After her father died she sold the compass and donated the money to start an orphanage which she led for many years with her lady companion,” she winked at Marinette. “One of the kids later bought the compass and it’s still in the town museum if you want to look at it. If you walk to the square it’s the tallest building with a red rooftop.”

“Thank you, I will!” Marinette beamed. 

She walked out of the station and ran to the square, looked for the museum. She laughed to herself. The lady mentioned the red roof, but somehow forgot to mention the tall tower that looked like straight from a fairytale on said rooftop. She walked inside.

Bored looking guy was sitting slouched on a chair, playing with his phone. She didn’t have to buy a ticket, she was still a student. He didn’t even raise his head when she walked in. On the wall, there was a sign with an arrow in the direction of the exposition. She followed it, interestedly looking around. There were few gowns and vintage clocks. She snapped pictures of both. Maybe she would design something inspired by it later.

In the following room, there was a glass stand with the compass. She came closer. Was there anything she could do with it? Is there something written? She read the plate next to it, but it only said the same story as the woman in the train station.

She scrutinized the compass again. There was something underneath it. She took out the numbers she collected so far. The white corner she could see from under the compass looked to be from the same paper but that wasn’t much. And the compass was under the class. She continued looking at it.

There were no security cameras in the room. She had an idea. 

“Marinette, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Tikki shook her head. Is mind-reading one of the abilities of Kwamis?

“You don’t even know what I’m thinking,” she let out a high-pitched laugh, looking away.

“Marinette-”

“Okay, I know, I know, but I’m not going to steal anything, I’m just going to have a look…” Marinette trailed off, shuffling her legs. The glass wasn’t locked, she could lift it. It would take a few seconds at most, she wouldn’t even have to touch the compass if she would manage to grab the paper. She embroid and sew daily, she had a hand at small things like this.

The guy from the first room seemed to be the only person besides her in the building now and he was in the lobby. She lifted the glass a few millimeters.

“Tikki, this doesn’t feel right!” she whisper shouted and promptly lowered the glass again. “No matter how many good reasons I can find, this is illegal, they can’t ask us to this, there has to be some other way!”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out Marinette, I’m glad you decided not to do it like that,” Tikki smiled and patted her chosen on a cheek.

“I just need a second to think.”

After a minute of silence, she crouched next to the stand. It was made entirely out of glass but if she wanted to see the bottom of the compass, she would have to find a different angle. She took her phone out. She didn’t have a mirror with her but she could use a front camera. She aimed it so that she could look at the compass.

The paper was clearly visible, and she could see the final number. Nothing else was there. This was the final clue.

She took out all of the numbers she had from her pockets and spread them on the ground in order in which she had found them all. She put the number in her phone and pressed call.

“Hello?” sounded a voice.

“Hello, ehm…” Marinette hesitated for a second. “I think you have another clue for the competition? Or should I say that I found this number? Oh no, I’m sorry, this is probably an error from my side, these numbers mean something else, I didn’t mean to bother you-”

“No, you were supposed to call here, this is the number of Gotham academy, congratulations, you are one of the winners of a Kalos Kagathos.”

“Really?” Marinette excitedly looked at Tikki who smiled. “Thank you so much!”

She heard some sounds from her phone as if someone was covering the microphone. Then she heard a muffled shout: “We have another one!”

“We’ll be contacting you soon, thank you for participating, have a nice day!” she heard a click. Well, this was shorter than she expected. They have another one. That meant she was either second or third winner. 

“Marinette, you won!” Tikki flew up and down next to her face.

“ _Mon Dieu_ , Tikki I won! It’s really happening! And our class is going to Gotham! And I’ll go to Wayne Gala!” Marinette realized, getting louder and louder with each sentence. Then, for good measure, she also squealed.

“Do you need any help? I heard you talking to… yourself?” the guy from the first room came. He looked at her, crouching on the ground, the papers with numbers spread around her, and an expression of barely contained excitement on her face.

“No thank you, I was just leaving,” she smiled at him brightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so so so much for all the nice comments you left, they made my day!
> 
> So here is another chapter, she won, woohoo! (Okay, this reminds me of Sims, I will never use that word again). 
> 
> But I hope you are all good! Kudos and comments really appreciated and until next time!
> 
> (I have an urge to say bug out, mlb broke me)


	4. Chapter 4

“Marinette?” the girl in question winced hearing the worry in her mother’s voice. “Are you okay? We heard there was a train derailment in radio and we know you were in the train at the same time, but they didn’t mention anything about which train it was exactly-”

“I’m okay, maman,” Marinette braced herself before the next words came rushing out from her mouth. “I’ve been in the train that was derailed, but I’m okay, I have only a few scratches and I solved the clue and they told me I’m one of the winners which means that I’m going to Gotham or at least that’s what I assumed but maybe I was wrong, oh, they probably made fun of me, they didn’t even ask for my contact information! I mean-“

“Marinette, that’s your biggest concern after being in a train derailment?” the girl was interrupted by her mom’s unamused voice. 

“Sorry, maman, but as I said I’m fine,” Marinette smiled sheepishly. “Could you maybe pick me up?”

///

By Monday, she was contacted by the Gotham academy, talked to Miss. Bustier about the trip and picked her three favorite dress designs for Wayne Gala. 

So far, no one from the class knew about the trip. She planned to tell Chloe, after all, as a hero she had to ‘inform’ Ladybug that she won’t be there for two weeks. If Ladybug came to Chloe, she might become suspicious. Despite what people liked to think, Chloe wasn’t stupid. 

Marinette decided not to tell her team that she wouldn’t be in the city for two weeks. With horse miraculous, she could be there as fast as always and she could use Chloe as an explanation for why is she using the portal. Moreover, she had a news app as practically everyone in Paris now. The app sends a notification as soon as someone reports an akuma. Sometimes it happened even before the person was akumatized so Ladybug managed to purify the butterfly without a fight.

“Oh yes, I solved so many clues already, I think I might win,” was the first thing Marinette heard when she stepped into the class Monday morning. Normally she would roll her eyes at the smirk Lila threw her but now she just smiled back as sweetly as possible.

Miss Bustier walked to the class even before the bell rang. 

“I have amazing news for you,” the class looked at her expectantly. She seemed to be taken aback by the sudden attention. “So, we… our class will go to Gotham! We have the pleasure to have one of the winners in our class! Now, thanks-”

“Lila, girl, why didn’t you tell anything!” Alya interrupted the teacher hugging the girl tightly.

“I didn’t win…” she looked around the class with pretended confusion. Her eyes landed on Max who just raised his eyebrows at Marinette who lightly nodded in response. Lila wasn’t stupid; they wouldn’t believe her she won. But she knew how to read the situation and take small risks. “Yesterday I solved one clue when I saw Marinette and Max behind me. It must have been the last clue! I didn’t have time to check it out because I had a really important call with Queen of England. She’s a sweetie, honestly, I take her as my good grandma Betty…”

“How could you steal the last clue from Lila? She worked so hard…” the class accusingly turned to Max and Marinette. 

“No! I didn’t even know there were winners already until now-” Max started defending himself. 

“But I must be wrong, they wouldn’t do it, someone else must have won the competition. Who was it, Miss Bustier?” Lila sniffed. The whole class turned to the teacher expectantly. 

“It was Marinette, but I’m sure that she-”

“I hoped I was wrong, how could you Marinette,” Lila sniffed once more. 

“I solved it all on my own,” Marinette would be seething if she didn’t expect something like this to happen in the first place. After a year and a half with Lila in class, she got used to all of her tricks. After the first month, anyone with two brain cells could predict her next sentence with 90% accuracy. 

“But Lila didn’t have a way to know that you were the winner if you didn’t steal her solution,” someone added. Marinette threw an exasperated look on the teacher who was looking out of the window. _Thanks for the help._

“Is there anything else you wanted to tell us, Miss Bustier?” Marinette asked and pretended to ignore the angry looks her class was giving her. She smiled at Chloe who rubbed her shoulder encouragingly. 

“I’m glad for you, if anyone deserved to win from this class, it was you,” Chloe gently smiled back. She still had her ‘primadonna persona’, but she toned it down _a lot_ next to her friends. 

Mari tuned out as Miss Bustier started explaining the details of the trip. After all, she was the one to tell her all of that in the first place. In the first week museums and sightseeing were on the program, the second week her class would visit Gotham academy. She was glad she would have ‘special program for the winners’, whatever that meant. 

She was told that all of the winners had called during the weekend and so they could move the dates of the trip. They were going to Gotham next week. _What is the worst thing that could happen?_

///

_Note to self: Don’t_ ever _ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen._ This week was hell. Her class who still believed she stole the victory from Lila. Sneers and angry remarks followed her everywhere, she was sure that if either Chloe, Alix, or Max didn’t go everywhere with her it would be even worse. Adrien also tagged along more often than not but he explained that somehow Lila managed to charm his father and so Adrien had to stop going against her as much as he’d like to.

Moreover, Chat Noir said that he wouldn’t be in the city for the time she and Chloe would be in Gotham. And that if he told her where he was going it would compromise his identity. After a long talk with Tikki she decided that it would be better if Chat Noir’s and Ladybug’s identities stayed secret. They could risk the other miraculouses but the two were too valuable. So during the Akuma attacks the next two weeks, Chat Noir wouldn't be able to help them.

Luckily, Marinette finally found herself unpacking her clothes in a hotel room. Chloe laying on Marinette’s bed, furiously tapping on her phone, and Alix was eating ice-cream. Marinette didn’t know how or where did Alix manage to buy an ice-cream. Knowing Alix, she probably didn’t want to know.

The rooms were for a maximum of two people and so Marinette more or less forced them to share the room, saying that she would be fine. They still came to her room so she wouldn’t be alone, and to do whatever they were doing (“Do you also want an ice-cream? I can get it for you.”). 

“Ha!” Chloe cheered. “I knew there must be something. Look!”

She pushed her phone to Marinette’s face. The girl took it from her friend and together with Alix looked at what Chloe was showing them. It was a newspaper article. The lines Chloe highlighted were talking about ‘clever and lucky teenagers Félix Culpa, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and Damian Wayne’. 

“Those are the names of the winners,” Alix realized. 

“Yep, one of them is none other than Damian Wayne, son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, aka _the_ person Lila said to be a very good friend with,” Chloe laughed with a twinkle in her eyes. “How many more lies do you think we can make her say about him without her realizing we’ll be meeting him soon?”

Alix smiled devilishly. “That sounds like a bet. Oh, you’re so on Bourgeois.”

So Marinette wasn’t even surprised that first thing Alix said when they got to a lobby to meet their class for dinner.

“Hey Lila, you mentioned that you know Bruce Wayne. That’s so cool, do you also know his son Damian?” Lila turned at her narrowing her eyes. When she didn’t notice anything but pure curiosity in Alix’s eyes, she decided to answer. 

“Oh yes, his son is such a cutie pie, I was a really good friend of his when we were young, but we, unfortunately, grew apart in the past few years.” 

“Are you still in contact with him?” Chloe crossed her arms, pretending to be jealous. After a second of silence, she also huffed a little for an effect. The whole class was listening to them now.

Marinette rolled her eyes at them. Chloe could be a sore loser, which made her the perfect bet partner for Alix. Their most common target seemed to be Lila, with an ongoing bet of how many more akumas she can cause until the end of the month. Chloe said 4. Lila said 6. Adrien joined with 7. There were only two weeks left of the month. They would be in Gotham this whole time. After Marinette pointed this out, Chloe upped her number to 6. Mari didn’t even want to know why.

“Well, we exchange letters and e-mails at least once a month,” she lowered her voice, but only to level when everyone could still hear her. “Sometimes he sends me a pressed flower with the letter. He’s romantic like that.”

The girls (mainly Rose) awwed at that. When Alix was sure Lila wasn’t looking at her, she pretended to gag. Marinette and Chloe both had to stifle their giggles.

“You can divide into at most 3 groups and go grab a dinner. Gotham is a dangerous city so be sure to stick together. We will all meet back in the hotel in two hours. You must be tired after the flight so don’t be late, tomorrow we will have an exciting program!” Miss Bustier smiled at them. 

In the end, they only divided into two groups, Marinette, Chloe, Alix, Max, and Adrien divided from the rest of the class. 

Nath stayed in Paris because his parents didn’t want him to go to such a dangerous city. It would be better to stay in Paris with all the akumas. Alix snorted at that, but Marinette understood. Any damage or injury from Gotham will stay. To the knowledge of all the parent Ladybug was still in Paris and so was her cure. 

Before they left, Marinette heard Rose asking Lila about her engagement with the Wayne heir. She raised her eyebrows at Alix who just shook her head and pointed at Chloe. Marinette could swear she could see something akin to awe in the eyes of the girl.

Fortunately for them, the dinner passed without any complications. Everyone returned safely to the hotel and straight to their rooms. 

Unfortunately, Marinette couldn’t sleep. She kept on twisting and turning in her bed. She tried folding her pillow, drinking some water, but she didn’t feel sleepy. She knew that if she could go out, the cold air would make her sleepy quickly. One of the perks, or disadvantages depending on the point of view, of being an owner of ladybug miraculous. She wasn’t reckless enough to go out on her own or to transform in Gotham. 

She climbed the stairs leading to the roof but she was stopped by metal bars with a lock. She took out a pin out of her hair crouched next to it. After a few minutes of trying, she managed to picklock it. The less legal perks of being a superhero. Or was she the only one who learned something like that if she happened to need it? Her gut was telling her that certain leather-cladded hero with cat ears (seriously, there were so many things wrong with his costume, he had a real _bell_ for God’s sake) also possessed this ability and many more.

She climbed up and sighed contently when she felt a cold wind blew on her face. Of course she took a winter jacket. Even in the middle of May she knew she would be cold in the evening. 

Gotham was different from Paris, there was no doubting that, but it still had its charm. She heard that the city was very dark but looking at it in the middle of the night, she saw thousands of windows still lit. Billboards and night clubs were shining colorful lights on the streets underneath them. It was peaceful. 

A scream cut through the night. 

_Note to self: Never ever say Gotham looks peaceful in the middle of the night._ She looked at the direction from which it came from. She didn’t have time to walk down the stairs in the building. On the side of a building there was a fire escape. There was also one on the opposite building. 

Marinette faltered only for a second. She ran to the first platform and leaped, landing on the one under her. On the other building. _It was much quicker than taking the stairs and the buildings were not that far one from another,_ she reasoned with herself, desperately trying not to think about the distance between her and the ground.

She finally reached the street and ran to the direction from which the shouts had been coming. She saw a young woman looking with a quiet terror at the two guys in front of her. They were both cladded in black clothes, each with a knife in his hand. 

She had an advantage of surprise. They had knives. She had her purse with Tikki, winter jacket, and pajamas. Not fair, but she would make do. 

She punched the guy on the left to the place behind his ear with as much force as possible. She hit the nerves she was going for. He stumbled and fell to the ground with a grunt, knocked out. She aimed for the same area but the second guy was warned and blocked her attack with his left hand. The other hand tried to stab her but she ducked and rolled away. 

Now that his attention was fully focused on her, the woman scrambled away. Marinette leaped to her feet and just barely avoided another punch. She quickly scanned her surroundings and grabbed a lid of a trash can next to her. Before he could attack again she threw it at him. He swatted it away with a motion of his hand. As Marinette supposed, it went straight into the trashcans on the side, making loud rattling sounds.

He looked at them with wide eyes and she used his momentary distraction to knock a knife from his hand with a kick. It was a risky move, but she couldn’t do anything while he was holding a knife. He dropped it and she managed to kick it away. 

In the millisecond she was looking down he recovered and lunged at her with his fist. She ducked and then jump, using the bonus force to punch his neck. He gargled and fell to the ground next to him. 

Oh, that’s going to bruise. There’s no Miraculous cure to help him.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette squeaked to the two unconscious bodies lying in front of her. 

“Are you actually apologizing to the attackers, sweetie?” a hand landed on her shoulder from behind. She grabbed it and threw the owner over her shoulder. 

“Ow, what was that for,” guy that she now recognized as Red Hood carefully stood up, raising his hands. 

“I’m sorry!” she squeaked again, a bit louder now. 

“Hey, it’s okay, that was impressive actually,” he chuckled. “And I’m hurt, I though a Gotham’s vigilant would deserve more pity than some fucking attacking scumbags.”

“Red Hood,” came a warning voice from behind. By now she had calmed down so she jumped only a little. She looked at the walking traffic lights. _Seriously, probably all of the heroes would need a good costume redesigning. And her also, the tight spandex wasn’t exactly her style. How did she never ask Tikki if she could change it during past years? Was it the same magic that protected their identities also protecting bad fashion choices? That would at least explain Chat Noir…_

“At least you didn’t end up unconscious,” she threw a pointed look at Red Hood, then at the two guys on the ground. “Be glad that you got the exact amount of pity as they did.”

“I like this one, can we keep her?” Red Hood asked no one in particular. 

“Are you hurt?” the walking traffic lights, no _Robin_ , she corrected herself in her mind, asked. 

“I’m okay, the moment I got the knife from his hand I knew I’ll be fi-” she cut herself. “I mean, I was scared, but I knew I could handle myself.” 

“Yeah, we’ve seen the end of the fight, those were some cool tricks for someone of your size,” Red Hood said. Robin just continued looking at her, which was unsettling her more. 

“Well, for someone of my size I could easily kick your ass,” Marinette replied, regretting it second after, Damn her temper, why she couldn’t tame it down a bit, she could play the ‘scared victim’ card but _no_ , she had to channel her inner ladybug and sass one of the Gotham’s heroes. Or vigilantes. Semantics. Whatever.

“Damn, seriously, can we keep her?” Red Hood continued, unaffected by the threat. 

“Hood,” Robin growled. “Why were you here in the middle of the night by yourself? Even as a foreigner you must know the Gotham’s reputation. ”

So he noticed her accent, huh, she had more trust in her English pronunciation. Also, was he condescending? She couldn’t tell for sure.

“Well, I was-,” she stopped herself for a millisecond. “-in a lobby of a hotel I’m staying in and I heard a scream so I ran here and the two were trying to steal from a woman that was here. And I had to help, I had an advantage, they didn’t know I was there so I could knock out one of them from behind…”

“That was extremely dangerous, but the move with the trash cans was clever. You alarmed us of your position,” Red Hood said seriously. Or at least she thought, it was hard to tell with the helmet. _Point for protection, minus point for fashion. But still better than the_ bell _and Mr._ traffic lights _over there._

“That was my intention. But I’m tired so I think I will be heading to my room now,” she smiled at them apologetically.

“Sure Miss, Robin here will surely accompany you to your room, if you ask nicely maybe he’ll give you a ride with a grappling hook, if you know what I mean,” Red Hood laughed. She was sure that if she could see his face he would be wiggling his eyebrows. She blushed at the implications. 

“Don’t say things like that to an underage girl,” Robin growled. Seeing her surprise he quickly added. “I don’t know, I assumed, excuse me.”

“Wait, how old are you?” Red Hood asked, looking at her. Or at least she thought, _stupid helmet_. 

“I’m 17, I’m here for a trip from school,” she answered. 

“Wow, for someone your size _and age_ , I’m sure you could kick my ass.”

“I had luck before and I wouldn’t be able to fight you, that was just an adrenaline talking,” she smiled sheepishly, scratching her neck. 

“I will take you to your hotel room,” Robin interrupted anything Red Hood might want to answer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, they finally met!
> 
> Thank you all for all of your lovely comments, I appreciate each and every one of them! They're giving me so much motivation, I love you all!
> 
> I hope you are all doing alright, given the situation we're in. I know that this is especially hard for people with mental illness but I want you to know that you're doing amazing! And I send you love! And tea! And hugs! (If you comfortable with virtual hugs, I don't know your boundaries) But seriously, if you miss human contact you can contact me here and we can talk a bit :))
> 
> Stay great, bug out!  
> (no one can stop me from saying it now, mwahaha)


End file.
